Attenuated cardiovascular reactivity is related to higher anxiety and fatigue symptoms in truck drivers.

Publisher: Blackwell Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0142657 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1540-5958 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00485772 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Psychophysiology Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Malden, MA : Blackwell
Original Publication: Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins.

Automobile Driving* ; Motor Vehicles*; Anxiety/*physiopathology ; Autonomic Nervous System/*physiopathology ; Blood Pressure/*physiology ; Fatigue/*physiopathology ; Occupational Diseases/*physiopathology; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Depression and anxiety have been linked with reduced stress-induced cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), which could be indicative of autonomic dysregulation. Less is known about the association between work-related fatigue and CVR. Truck drivers experience high levels of depression, anxiety, and fatigue, with repeated psychophysiological stressors on the road, yet little is known about the effects of these conditions on their CVR. Three hundred eighty six truck drivers completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion/Recovery Scale (OFER-15). Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure and heart rate (HR) were measured at rest and during a stressor protocol to measure CVR. Multivariate regression analyses were used to determine relationships between variables and adjusted for nine key covariates. Higher symptoms of persistent fatigue were related to a reduced SBP reactivity (β = -.236, p = .009) and reduced DBP reactivity (β = -.257, p = .005), whereas there was a positive trend between acute fatigue and DBP reactivity (β = .169, p = .052). Higher symptoms of anxiety were related to a reduced SBP reactivity (β = -.164, p = .016). This study demonstrated in a population of truck drivers that both anxiety and persistent fatigue were related to an attenuated SBP reactivity in a combined model, whereas there was a positive trend between acute fatigue solely and DBP reactivity. These novel findings may have serious implications for cardiovascular disease risk in truck drivers, and future research should attempt to establish the causal effect of these associations and the underlying physiological mechanisms.
(© 2021 The Authors. Psychophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

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United Kingdom DH_ Department of Health

Keywords: anxiety; blood pressure; cardiovascular reactivity; depression; fatigue; heart rate; stress; stress reactivity

Date Created: 20210604 Date Completed: 20220203 Latest Revision: 20220203

20231215

10.1111/psyp.13872

34086343